RME ADI-2 DAC Thread

[VRacer-111]

So question all you ADI-2 Owners.. what amps are you pairing with it? I'm currently going direct out of mine and curious if there are any good amp synergies known.. I've looked around, but haven't seen too many clear paths. Not to say I'm not pleased with the output from ADI-2, but curious none the less.

Toob amps make the most sense to me to pair with the ADI-2. I use Garage 1217 Project Embers with Mazda 12AU7WA or Mullard CV4024 tubes. Get the clean clear nature of the ADI-2 with the warmth, separation and holographic projection of the Ember with 12AU7WA tubes. Schiit Loki added in for 11 bands of hardware EQ... Works well with the JFET Garage 1217 Project Polaris as well, but trades some extension/nuance and separation for subbass impact and punch along with a brighter, and slightly less smooth treble.

 

[betula]

I wish, there was a simple poll option on head-fi. How many of you guys are using the 'loudness' function?

 

[CaptainFantastic]

I wish, there was a simple poll option on head-fi. How many of you guys are using the 'loudness' function?

I don't. I always listen to the volume I enjoy, so no need... but I did play with it and found it interesting. I agree with the manual. At lower levels, if one is listening next to their sleeping Marianne and using open back headphones, this is a nice option to have.

 

[JKDJedi]

Toob amps make the most sense to me to pair with the ADI-2. I use Garage 1217 Project Embers with Mazda 12AU7WA or Mullard CV4024 tubes. Get the clean clear nature of the ADI-2 with the warmth, separation and holographic projection of the Ember with 12AU7WA tubes. Schiit Loki added in for 11 bands of hardware EQ... Works well with the JFET Garage 1217 Project Polaris as well, but trades some extension/nuance and separation for subbass impact and punch along with a brighter, and slightly less smooth treble.

[/QUOTE

I don't. I always listen to the volume I enjoy, so no need... but I did play with it and found it interesting. I agree with the manual. At lower levels, if one is listening next to their sleeping Marianne and using open back headphones, this is a nice option to have.

Saw in a review that you could set that automatically, at a certain (low ) volume (to your preferences) that this loudness will kick in.

 

[radekhulan]

Loudness is too brutal change for my taste, and not neccessary for louder volume levels.

But I'm using crossfeed, for my IEMs.
First time in many years I've found it beneficial, with RME...

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Read a thread where they uninstalled RME drivers and used Windows native drivers to solve that auto frequency input thing. Worth a shot. My finger is hovering over that buy button every day .. maybe some cheap headphones will hold me over for a week or two...

The problem is that's bad for latency and probably sound quality. If you remove ASIO drivers you're back to Windows audio stack.

I'm annoyed by the incorrect sample rate display and think they should fix it. My Brooklyn DAC+ works correctly with its ASIO drivers.

 

[technobear]

I wish, there was a simple poll option on head-fi. How many of you guys are using the 'loudness' function?

Yes, but only for the loudspeakers.

 

[radekhulan]

Anybody using with success https://www.vb-audio.com/Cable/index.htm WASAPI to ASIO wrapper? This is a way to force Tidal play bit-perfect, even via WASAPI, without need to use Audirvana or Roon (I really like Tidal interface).

However, I am getting occasional stutters, even on high-end computer. Any known fixes?

 

[JKDJedi]

The problem is that's bad for latency and probably sound quality. If you remove ASIO drivers you're back to Windows audio stack.

I'm annoyed by the incorrect sample rate display and think they should fix it. My Brooklyn DAC+ works correctly with its ASIO drivers.

I'm pretty sure asio4all drivers isn't part of the RME drivers, just uninstall the RME drivers, this thread will/ should explain it better...
https://audiosciencereview.com/foru...iguration-of-rme-adi-2-dac-with-windows.4072/

 

[gimmeheadroom]

I'm pretty sure asio4all drivers isn't part of the RME drivers, just uninstall the RME drivers, this thread will/ should explain it better...
https://audiosciencereview.com/foru...iguration-of-rme-adi-2-dac-with-windows.4072/

I am not talking about asio4all. I'm talking about the native RME ASIO drivers.

If you uninstall the RME drivers you're not getting the best sound quality and latency from your DAC. You're just "fixing" the crappy sample rate issue.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Anybody using with success https://www.vb-audio.com/Cable/index.htm WASAPI to ASIO wrapper? This is a way to force Tidal play bit-perfect, even via WASAPI, without need to use Audirvana or Roon (I really like Tidal interface).

However, I am getting occasional stutters, even on high-end computer. Any known fixes?

No, I'm using a Brooklyn DAC+ for Tidal, ASIO and MQA, no roon or other crapware. Just the Tidal desktop app with passthru MQA enabled.

 

[radekhulan]

Tidal (WASAPI) cannot switch frequencies on RME, does not matter if RME drivers are used or default Windows 10 ones. "VB Cable" is a hack that translates WASAPI audio to ASIO, RME auto-switches with ASIO, but this bridge introduces stutter. So, the only 100% reliable solution for Tidal and bit-perfect playback on Windows seems to be Audirvana.

Anybody more luck here?

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Tidal (WASAPI) cannot switch frequencies, does not matter if RME drivers are used or default Windows 10 ones. "VB Cable" is a hack that translates WASAPI audio to ASIO, RME auto-switches with ASIO, but this bridge introduces stutter. So, the only 100% reliable solution for Tidal and bit-perfect playback on Windows seems to be Audirvana.

Anybody more luck here?

No, there are DACs that do bit-perfect and MQA on Windows without any third party apps. The Brooklyn DAC+ does. And if you don't need MQA, the Chord Mojo (and I'm sure all the Chord DACs) play Tidal bit-perfect without 3rd party apps but of course only software MQA from the Tidal app.

 

[radekhulan]

Well, with some A/B testing I've found I cannot hear difference between bit-perfect ASIO playback from Audirvana vs Tidal and WASAPI resample to 384kHz anyway, so ended-up using stock Tidal app.



But somewhere in my head I'm not happy with this solution :-/

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Why not set Windows to 44.1/16? I guess upsampling will just make things worse. If you turn off passthru MQA then the RME should see the same sample rate and bit depth all the time.